[Stoves] RE Surface / volume measurement

[Crispin Pemberton-Pigott]

BerichtDear Frans

I like this method the best because it will work with wood lengths of different sizes and lengths.

Bark will give a problem of course, but as a method it is probably as accurate as anything else mentioned so far.  Also it is quick and easy.

A standard (short) 'dunking time' will give a water cling that will vary with the surface roughness, and something about the roughness could be noted by the tester.

The volume displaced is Archimedes joining the conversation.

Perhaps a liquid other than water would make a better assessment, but at least we know water is available everywhere.

I also like the fact that the ends of the wood will be measured for area.  When you put a rough-ended piece of wood into the fire, it tends to burn much faster immediately than a smoothly sawn end because of all the little spurs of wood.  Thus the point of collecting this information, which is to predict burning characteristics, will be assisted by knowing that ends of broken splintered wood have a high surface area. They will pick up more water and hold it long enough to get a reading.

I would call this the Displaced Water - Missing Water method DW/MW and the only missing information at the moment is the factor which converts the mass of missing water to area.  This should be easy to obtain by using  a single diameter of wood.  There might be another number we should add to the factor (k) which  is the number of pieces in the test.  If the ends turn out to soak up a lot of water in a short time, the number of pieces would affect the 'k' value.  Also the moisture content of the wood should probably be factored into the determination.

It would look something like:

[Displaced Water mass in gm / (Missing Water in gm * K)]

where K is a combination of moisture, number of pieces and the area conversion.

Regards
Crispin

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Measure the depth of the water 40 cm ------>   1 L / cm    
Push 20 Kg wood under the water for 10 seconds . Reed the water level 60 cm ? 55 cm ? Difference is wood voume .
Weigh the water after retraction  of the wood , collect the droppings for 10 seconds !
40 - remaining water is the surface wet .